Text 21] Lord Visnu’s Appearance in the Sacrificial Arena 789

padma-palasa-aksah—the Lord, whose eyes are like the petals of a lotus
flower; na—not; pratasthe—departed; suhrt—the well-wisher; satam—of the
devotees.

TRANSLATION

The Lord was just about to leave, but because He was so greatly inclined
towards the behavior of King Prthu, He did not depart. Seeing the behavior
of Maharaja Prthu with His lotus eyes, He was detained because He is always
the well-wisher of His devotees.

PURPORT

Here the words suhrt satam are very significant. The Supreme Personality
of Godhead is always very inclined towards His devotee and is always
thinking of his well-being. This is not partiality. As stated in Bhagavad-gita,
the Lord is equal to everyone (samo ‘ham sarva-bhiitesu), but to one who
particularly engages in His service, He is very much inclined. In another
place, the Lord says that a devotee always exists in His heart, and He also
exists always in the heart of the devotee.

The special inclination of the Supreme Personality of Godhead for His
pure devotee is not unnatural, nor is it partiality. For example, sometimes
a father has several children, but he has special affection for one child who
is very much inclined towards him. This is explained in Bhagavad-gita

(10.10): tesam satata-yuktanam

bhajatam priti-pirvakam
dadami buddhi-yogam tam
yena mam upayanti te

Those who constantly engage in the devotional service of the Lord in love
and affection are directly in cqntact with the Supreme Personality of God-
head sitting as the Supersoul in everyone’s heart. The Lord is not far away
from the devotee. He is always in everyone’s heart, but only the devotee
can realize the Lord’s presence, and thus he is directly connected, and he
takes instruction from the Lord at every moment. Therefore, there is no
chance of a devotee’s being in error, nor is there any partiality on the part
of the Lord for His pure devotees.

TEXT 21

a anus Wrarafsatt
faaed 9 arvacyetaa: |
